Felieke van der Leest's Animal Jewelry

For those of you who celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving! In the spirit of turkeys, here is some bird jewery. Award-winning gold and silversmith Felieke van der Leest creates knitted and crocheted jewelry paired with gold and silver. Much of her work depicts miniature sized animals, infused with human qualities and most of all, humor. Her jewelry can stand on its own as small sculptures, too. The artist says, "I never run out of ideas. They are all around me... Animals fascinate me. Whenever I'm in another country I'd rather visit zoos or aquaria."

From Holland, van der Leest has built an impressive body of work that is exhibited in museums and galleries in New York, Tokyo, and Europe. 'The Outsiders' earrings (top photo) are made of plastic, gold, oxidized silver, and embroidery. The 'Yellow Kelly' bird necklace (above) is made from yellow glass beads, plastic, embroidered legs and hands, and gold. I like that these pieces are fun and so well crafted. What do you think? You can see more at Felieke van der Leest or Klimt02.

Comments

[Sandi]

I think they're pretty funny, too. Especially the yellow hanging bird. Don't you love the photo of the artist with the bird on her head on her home page?

[Finola's LIttle Blog]

Those are hilarious - thank you for sharing them, I had a good look round the artist's site too. Very creative, very amusing:)